Jun 11, 2009 - 8:29:55 AM By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist
This week's episode begins in the training center where Team U.S.A. is taking part in their training session in order to put the finishing touches on Cameron Dollar's preparation for his bout with Andre Winner. Coach Dan Henderson wants Dollar to stand and bang with Winner before doing enough damage to take him down and pound out a victory. Dollar seems to agree with this fight plan and intimates he will stand and bang but is worried about his ribs. Dollar has injured the rib cartilage and it is hurting him badly. Henderson checks it and says, "it don't matter what I think, it has to be ready to go come fight time," which is similar to the gym teacher telling a student to "walk it off." Henderson said that he wants a nightmare for Dana White and have no United Kingdom fighters in the finals.
Although this really wouldn't be a nightmare, and more like a really good commercial for MMA in Britain as it would just fire those young fighters up even more to make it here. A nightmare for Dana White would be getting abducted by Tim Sylvia and being placed in a van driven by Tom Atencio which takes him to Madison Square Garden in order to watch Tito Ortiz, Matt Lindland and Fedor Emelianenko all fight on Affliction 100 before a screaming sell-out audience. THAT would be a nightmare for White; having no British fighters just means he can work towards creating a real rivalry with some pointed comments and begin plans for a second go of it on a later edition of 'The Ultimate Fighter.'
Andre Winner weighs in at 165 lbs. during training and is well within range of making weight as he checks in before his training session with Team U.K.. Winner is shown working the pads with Bisping and his striking looks very good from what is seen. Apparently Jason Pierce sold out his team once more by telling Winner all about Dollar's tendency to throw the uppercut. We are shown Winner telling Bisping all about it as the two formulate what they hope will be a successful gameplan.
Team U.K. is traveling by van back to the house following their training when we are treated to the peculiar sight of Andre Winner sucking his thumb. I mean, he is really going to town on it as if he just spent seventy dollars on the longer lap dance. Teammate Dean Amasinger states that this was a well kept secret until now. Winner is seen in the house next as he defends his oral fixation by declaring, "I've never sucked my thumb here, except maybe at night," which incited laughter among his teammates. He then proceeded to make it worse by saying, "to be honest to God, I don't even suck it that much anymore," which made him sound like a married woman talking about how she no longer does what she did while dating her husband. Cameron Dollar in a confessional scene says, "I can't lose to someone who sucks his thumb...just kidding," but I have to add that maybe Winner can't lose to someone with that ridiculous haircut. Just kidding. No, seriously, I am not a fan of that haircut and will not be until maybe he has his barber fashion it into an eight ball or maybe the Pac-Man maze.
Both men make the final preparations for their fight and Cameron shows that he gets the urgency of this situation. He takes a moment to pray and reveals a surprising calmness and a refreshing perspective as he prays and simply asks for there to be nothing he can't handle. This is such a change from the athlete who prays to win but tries to act like this is not an egotistical thing disguised as spirituality. I mean, what God is going to say, "OK, Fighter A. I will you to put a beating on that guy and knock him out cold so you can get the five thousand dollar bonus." Athletes being shown while praying is almost always uncomfortable, but Dollar at least has better things to ask God rather than a win.
Cameron Dollar vs. Andre Winner
The fight is on and Cameron Dollar is circling and sticking the jab to start. Dollar lunges forward and rips a mean hook at Winner's head. Winner returns fire and the two trade momentarily with Dollar just missing what could have been a huge uppercut. Dollar follows with an excellent combination to which Winner lands a crisp counter hook. The two clinch and Winner is throwing some knees which are not effective, and this is surprising given Dollar's rib injuries. Dollar goes for the takedown but Winner sprawls. Dollar does not give up and from his knees is finally able to wrestle Winner to the ground. Soon after, they are back on the feet and in a clinch again. While struggling and scrambling following the clinch it is Dollar hanging on to the left leg of Winner as the British fighter is trying to rain some punches down. Dollar ends his quest to take down Winner and fires off a beautiful three punch combo against the cage. Dollar then scores the takedown and ends up in the full guard of his opponent. Andre Winner slaps a triangle on Dollar rather quickly and the American is immediately trying to punch his way out of this. However, this was not enough and Dollar has no choice but to tap out. This fight is over.
Winner is Andre Winner by Submission (Triangle Choke) 1st Round
The Dollar is down and the pound is up following this one as one Team U.K. lightweight is in the finals. Andre Winner is relaxed as he celebrates his victory and his main concern is that he feels he did his family proud, and he is pleased that there exists no footage which should make them think any less of him. Well, unless they don't know the young man sucks his thumb still. That might be an embarrassing enough moment.
As for Cameron Dollar, he is dejected, but Dan Henderson quickly tells him how proud he feels about his performance. Henderson tells Dollar that he has the tools to be success and that this happens in a fighters career. Cameron Dollar will be back. Sooner rather than later and for my money, he is the best prospect of all the American fighters. He is 21 years old and extremely raw, so one can only imagine how many top coaches would be frothing at the mouth to work with and mold such a big, talented piece of clay. That said, don't expect this to be immediate, and I hope the UFC takes their time with him. If so, he could pay some huge dividends in a short time.
We now return to fight preparation for the second lightweight semifinal and see Ross Pearson being put through his paces for his bout against Jason Dent. Pearson is shown training very hard when he seems to have hurt his shoulder which causes him to immediately stop and grab at it as if he has been shot. He tells Bisping that it popped out, and just when I began to wonder if he would indeed be unable to fight is when Pearson matter-of-factly told the coach that this happens "all the time." Pearson asks Bisping to "just pull it," and this seems to work as the fighter is ready to go once more as if he did no more than hyperextend a finger. Pearson gets back to full tilt sparring and this was an interesting segment to say the least, and makes me wonder if the kid has ever even seen a doctor save for fight examinations.
It is now time for Team U.S.A. to do their best in order to make sure Jason Dent is prepared for Ross "just pull it" Pearson. We are taken to confessional footage of Dana White, who voices his displeasure with Jason Dent by referring to his previous bout as "by far, the most uneventful fight I have seen this season" before pointing out that Dent really did little more than coast. Can you blame him, though? How many exciting first round losers make it into the UFC? Win today, be exciting tomorrow usually works for most fighters in terms of being the usual mindset to have. Dent tells us through his confessional footage that he is pissed at Dana's comments but that he will show him what he is all about in this bout against Pearson. Dent explains his methods by telling us that he is the healthiest fighter due to the fact he is not bumped up or with even a single scratch on him in comparison to all others. He then tells us that his plan is to go all out and have a war since it is the last fight and he can then go home in order to lick his wounds.
"If I hit him flush, I knock him out"-Ross Pearson
"I never win decisions so I've gotta finish this fight."-Jason Dent
Jason Dent vs. Ross Pearson
Dent misses with the head kick to open the round and begins to pump the jab. Pearson works behind his jab as well and lunges toward his foe. The two clinch against the cage and Pearson tries to connect with a knee to Dent's head while the two are standing. This fails miserably and the British fighter falls to the ground but is able to get back up straight away and the two fighters clinch once more. Jason Dent taunts Ross Pearson by waving him in once the two break from their clinch. Pearson starts to work on the body of Dent and lands a few solid shots before exhibiting some dirty boxing as well. Dent follows this up with a kick to the leg that lands with a nice little thud. Dent then shows off some defensive skills by blocking both a head kick attempt as well as two very hard punches from Pearson. They clinch again and Dent is firing off some excellent looking uppercuts with some bad intentions behind them. However it was Pearson who was able to split the gloves of Dent and connect with his right hand several times. Both men started to swing wildly with less than a minute to go in the round and it is Pearson who really begins to pick up the pace. Pearson flurries and is throwing several three to four punch combinations on Dent. Dent was now missing most of his shots and it was Pearson who had found a rhythm. Dent would punctuate what was a solid first round by landing two punches before the horn sounded.
-Bent's Score: 10-9 for Ross Pearson-
Dent starts the second round off with a leg kick, as well as a left hook and a "Superman" punch which missed its target. Dent was very busy in the early stages but not landing at all. This was sort of like two fat people engaged in intercourse as both parties were really working hard but no penetration took place. Pearson finally is able to break on through with the jab and then fires off a wonderful three punch combination. The two fighters are in a clinch once more and it is Pearson who lands a thudding right hand before the two separate. Upon separation it is Dent attempting what looked like a flying knee to the body, and this one looked good but was unable to find its mark. Ross Pearson scored the takedown of Jason Dent and was punching the American while he held on tightly. Pearson would stand before getting the mount for a split second and as quickly as they hit the mat, both fighters returned to their feet. Jason Dent again is very aggressive and once more taunts Pearson by waving him in. Dent shoots in for a takedown but Pearson is able to get away before taking advantage of the situation by dropping down into the full guard of the Team U.S.A. fighter. Pearson would land a few punches and this round was over.
-Bent's Score: 10-9 for Ross Pearson-
A touching of gloves starts the third and final round and the sense of urgency seems to have overtaken Jason Dent who needs a stoppage or submission victory. Jason makes his way towards the former by landing a clubbing right hand which he followed up with a hard uppercut. Ross Pearson scored the takedown and began to work the elbows while Dent tried to gain some control and get this one stood back up. Pearson would start throwing some hammer fists before Dent went for an arm bar attempt. Excellent choice of action for Dent but Pearson is able to escape before he would be in harm's way. Now that he was free once more it was again time for Ross Pearson to return to his previously scheduled hammer fist session as he has control of Dent's back. Jason Dent is able to reverse position and get back to having Ross Peason in his full guard again. This didn’t last long as Pearson was able to gain side control as Dent hung onto his leg. From his knees, Pearson was punching away and remained in control until the end of this round.
-Bent's Score: 10-9 for Ross Pearson-
Bent Scores The Fight: 30-27 for Ross Pearson
Winner is Ross Pearson by way of Unanimous Decision
I am not a professional judge, but I play one on T.V., or rather the internet, as I have no clue what the official scorecards look like and I am not about to claim all three judges scored this the same as I. However, I see no reason for anyone to have given any of the three rounds to Jason Dent and would definitely love to hear the argument for giving him one of these. Of course, I really want to meet the person who scored this fight for Jason Dent. I hope that person doesn't exist, but if he does it would again be interesting to hear him pontificate on his knowledge of proper fight scoring.
Dana White immediately gave credit to Jason Dent and stated that he gained more respect for this fighter following a loss than any of his previous wins. I agree. Jason Dent fought his ass off out there. Sure, he came up short, but on any given day any fighter can lose a fight; but I will favor the hungrier guy in eight of those ten meetings. Jason Dent says that his inability to win this bout was due to the fact that the house had his head "all messed up" and he is glad to go home. He wants to clear his head and get back to training but makes it clear he hopes to get a chance to compete in the UFC in the future. Thanks to his efforts, this just might happen. I never had anything but respect for Jason Dent but admittedly I have even more for him now, and also have even more disdain for a guy like Jason Pierce who didn't even try.
We have an All-U.K. Finale in the lightweight division as it will be Andre Winner taking on Ross Pearson for the "six-figure contract," the car or watch or whatever they give away this time around and the nice plaque to place in their gym. Coach Michael Bisping is not shown to be gloating at all over this outcome, and instead is shown telling his charges, "may the best man win, boys," before congratulating them both once more.
Does this mean the U.K. is comprised of truly awesome fighters? Who knows, but the one thing known is that they were indeed a better overall group than the United States team which has been basically a one or two fighter team at best. This really does not make a grand statement about MMA in the U.K. since they have a monopoly on the finals, but rather makes the statement that the United States team just wasn't nearly as good. It's something we all had wondered about once this decision was made to have this country vs. country edition of 'TUF' come to light. Hey, the bad guy has to win the first matchup so that the good guy can rally the troops and get his revenge. The United States will be back, and so too will this country vs. country format.
The preview for the final episode of this season serves to hype the Frank Lester vs. James Wilks semifinal welterweight fight. This one is billed as the "American hero steps in against the man who destroyed his smile," and admittedly, this was a pretty cool tag line. This made me want to actually order this fight as they teased us with some toe to toe footage from the upcoming bout. This one looks to be a stand-up war, but I have to say that Frank Lester has a tough challenge ahead of him. Damarques Johnson may indeed prove he was head and shoulders the best fighter on the American team, since he may be the only American to make it to the finals on June 20th.
Eleven down and one to go. One more fight to determine the fourth member of the big dance at the Palms in Las Vegas on June 20th. We have seen eggs thrown, t-shirts scrawled upon, boots marked up, teeth removed, thumbs sucked and some feelings hurt. I just hope the last fight is better than those we have seen this season, as it has admittedly not been the most thrilling of seasons. That said, I am betting on Wilks vs. Lester being everything we could want and more. For now, I am wanting more of 'The Ultimate Fighter' and like everyone else am relegated to waiting until next Wednesday at 10pm EST on Spike TV.
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